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5 Tips For a Seamless Elopement in Tulum, Mexico

Nallely Cabanillas

5 Tips For A Seamless Elopement in Tulum, Mexico

Tulum, MX

Tulum is a boho, laid-back, beach town filled with jungle vibes and tropical goodness. This gem on the Yucatan Peninsula features ancient glorious ruins, cave cenotes, white sandy beaches, fresh eats, and is the ultimate relaxation hub.

Tulum along with Cancun are already super popular destination locations for big weddings- which are for the most part large resort weddings, or all inclusive $60k+ weddings, or a 150+ guest destination wedding. But if that doesn’t ring your bells, and you’re considering a fun, low-key tropical elopement- you’re in the right place!

Elopements are all about bringing a wedding day back to the core of what a wedding day should be : coming together to commit and share your vows to your partner while experiencing a day that reflects who you guys are as a couple.

When you have an elopement you can get rid of all the planning stress that comes with traditional weddings the stress to put on a show, the stress of entertaining and fabricating an event. Instead you get the liberty and freedom of designing a day that’s refreshingly YOU.

I can’t imagine a more perfect place than Tulum to elope, Tulum is for the couples who are looking for relaxation, a bit of adventure, and white sandy beaches as a backdrop! Eloping means choosing to have an experience and what better way to experience the coming together of two people than on a picturesque slice of Mexican paradise.

I’ll be covering in this guide, #5 helpful tips for a fun and seamless Elopement experience in Tulum, Mexico.

1.) Save the Paperwork for Later

Hotel Maxanab

SAVE THE PAPERWORK FOR LATER

The first question you’re probably asking yourself is how do I legally get married in Tulum? Welp, the easiest and hands down the BEST way to go about this, is simple: save the legalities for when you get back home (or before you leave).

I recommend this to couples because in order to have a “legal” wedding in Mexico, you need to apply for certain paperwork and provide a blood sample/work that’s been taken in the country, and the process is just a bit overwhelming especially if you don’t know Spanish and are coming in from out of the country.

Next, after working a few elopements in Mexico, I quickly realized that hiring an officiant, can be a little hard to do, since it’s not very common as most people in the country get married through the church. That’s not to say that there aren’t any officiants, there is, but they are just harder to find, especially because they often only work through wedding planners, and don’t offer just “officiating services”, usually you have to book the whole wedding planner which is quiet expensive since they don’t cater to elopements.

However, for an elopement in Tulum, you can always just share your personal vows to each other, exchange rings, and off we go! Or you can also opt for a spiritual Mayan ceremony. These types of ceremonies are popular in the area and are led by a shaman (not a legal binding wedding but more ceremoniously).

So again, just save the legal paperwork for home, if you’re looking for an easy elopement experience.

Remember a paper is just that-paper. You get married the day you commit and share your vows to your partner, the rest is just formality. ;)

2.) The Best Season To Plan Your Elopement

Jungle Keva Tulum

THE BEST SEASON TO PLAN YOUR ELOPEMENT

Aim to plan your elopement anywhere from late October-December, the rainy season has passed, hurricane season is gone, and it’s still warm and pleasant. But most importantly THE SEAWEED IS GONE which is crucial for a beachside elopement. If you’re not familiar with this area, the seaweed can be an ongoing problem that get’s pretty bad because it takes over the whole beach, it smells, and attracts even more mosquitos than there already are! So for a seaweed-less beach aim for October-December , even early January.

3.) Ditch The Big Resort Packages

DITCH THE BIG RESORT PACKAGES

These wedding packages are aimed at larger / typical traditional weddings which simply don’t make sense for an elopement.

If you’re planning on a “just us” experience or planning to have 10 of your closest friends/family the best way to go about this is booking through an independent/ boutique hotel. Some actually already are on board with elopements and will offer “small wedding/ elopement” packages that could include using there beach property for the ceremony, an officiant, a picnic, some florals, all rolled into a sweet deal.

Usually, I look for a hotel or lodging that is of course aesthetically pleasing, but that can also serve for getting ready photos, while also serving as a location for the ceremony whether it’s the hotel property or their beach front property. Even if you don’t book a “package”, certain hotels might still charge a fee for using there “beach front property” to share your vows, but it’s best to ask and know ahead of time.

Or you can also book an Airbnb for a bit more privacy while hosting your ceremony right on the property!

If that all seems to complicated, you can always book wherever suits you, and we can just go to the public beach, “Playa Paraiso” to have access to a beach for the ceremony.

4.) Make Your Elopement Part of an All-Day Experience

Hotel Maxanab’s beach front

ALL DAY EXPERIENCE

This is an elopement after all, so you get to make the rules, you could make it an all day experience!

You can start your elopement day by having breakfast together, maybe a bit of yoga to ease any stress, then you can get ready together and help each other into your wedding attire, followed by an intimate ceremony on the beach, and then? You can go for a private swimming tour in the cenotes, have a beach side romantic picnic, go snorkeling with turtles, have a spa treatment, go ATV’ing, or maybe you just want to explore the town and grab a smoothie, rock on the beach swings, ride a bike, or just grabbing drinks and a meal at a restaurant.

The beauty of elopements is that you get to splurge in all the right places and maximize your experience of your wedding day, because instead of paying for 150 peoples dinner you opted for a 2 person romantic, private chef meal on the beach, instead of paying for a $10k venue you opted for a private tour of the cenotes with a special lunch, instead of paying for table rentals and decor, you opted for a floating spa.

See what I’m saying? Just because you opted out of a “traditional wedding” doesn’t mean your day has to be anything less than extraordinary!

5.) Hire Help?

DO YOU NEED TO HIRE HELP?

Like I mentioned in the last tip, having an elopement is about choosing and deciding where you want to spend your hard earned money, so hiring a Coordinator (or other vendors) can be another way to help maximize your elopement experience!

For example, a coordinator/stylist can help set up a super cute intimate beachside ceremony area for you, or an intimate romantic tablescape for dinner for the two of you (or for your small guest list), and can help coordinate any details like booking travel, hotels, spas, adventure tours, etc, while being familiar with the local elopement scene in Tulum.

Or maybe you just want to hire a vendor who knows how to work with hair and makeup in humid conditions. You get to choose what areas you need and don’t need help in.

Here is a List of Worthy Vendors I’ve had wonderful experiences with in Tulum :

Others Vendors:

Woooo!! Now it’s Time To Start Dreaming Up Your Elopement!

Hopefully by now your heart is dreaming up all of the amazing possibilities on having an adventurous elopement in Tulum! Don’t forget to make the planning process as fun and laid-back as possible! Cheers xx